Page 33 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2018

New and Noteworthy PSAs On Air
Loyal volunteer Judy Elliott has taken on the task of locating and recording new PSAs for the station. Her work in finding educational matter—much of it in Spanish—earned her the unofficial title of PSA Czar. Regular listeners have been treated to tips from the local Fire Marshall on fire safety as well as a veterinarian’s expert advice on keeping pets safe on hot summer days. She also has been running information on sexual abuse, all in an effort to diversify the content and illuminate key topics for listeners.
Elliott shared that KBBF is open to suggestions from people in the community for new PSAs. In general, the station seeks educational content but it cannot be promotional in nature. If you have a tip, contact the KBBF office at 545-8833. You can also message the station at its Facebook page.
Tune into KBBF
Thom Hartmann, one of the top progressive talk show hosts in the country, can be heard on KBBF. Recent shows have addressed immigration, successful progressive movements around the world, and the links between ADHD and creativity. The Thom Hartmann Show airs Monday through Friday at 2pm, while his Project Censored is Thursdays at 4pm.
On June 14th, KBBF volunteers joined other local activists for Families Belong Together—National Day of Action. People convened in Courthouse Square and marched to the Federal Buiding as a demonstration of concern for immigrant families that are being torn apart and the children who are held in detention centers. Local immigration advocates led a vigil and demanded action for these children.
Art is Medicine Rides Again
Santa Rosa’s own theater troupe, The Imaginists, return for their tenth annual season of theater in local parks. As always, the players arrive on bicycles and perform a bilingual script. This year’s show is “An Imaginists’ Odyssey,” and concerns the struggles of artistic dreamers in sometimes unfriendly political times. In the words of the troupe, “An Imaginists’ Odyssey asks: What is home? How do we get there?” The tentative schedule this summer is: July 7th Juilliard Park at 7pm; July 8th Howarth Park at 4pm; July 13th Bayer Park & Community Gardens at 7pm; July 14th TBD at 7pm; JULY 21st Andy’s Unity Park at 7pm; and July 22 Finley Park at 4pm.
There are multiple ways to support KBBF. Click through the website and become a sustaining donor for $4.99 per month, or make a one-time donation. Visit us online, at KBBF.org, for more information.
Taking to the Streets in Support of Immigrant Families
Support KBBF
Obtaining visas for foreign-born workers
[Thanks to Liliana Gallelli, who cowrote this article]
The federal government has long had a sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward much of our economy here—wineries, agriculture, restaurants, hotels, and construction, among others.
It goes something like this: we won’t ask if your workers are legally here and please don’t tell us, or we’ll have to deport them and your industry won’t have workers to hire.
Sonoma County is suffering from an ever-growing shortage
in labor. Contributing factors are low interest rates leading to an increase in business development and a tight housing market, made worse by the fires. Draconian immigration policies have further worsened the situation.
Unknown to many employers, a guest-worker visa exists to supposedly
help fill the gap in business personnel needs. That visa is the H2 visa—H2A
for agricultural workers, and H2B for temporary, nonagricultural jobs. But the bureaucracy an employer is required to navigate and the costs of the process are too daunting for most.
The H-2B temporary non-agricultural program
allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nonimmigrant workers to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. This visa is a highly technical process that involves multiple state and federal government agencies, including State Workforce Agencies, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of State.
While there are numerous reports that businesses throughout the nation are being hurt by the inability to count on a labor force, H2 visas are capped at only 66,000 per year (33,000 for workers required during April 1 – September 30, and 33,000 for October 1 – March 31). In fiscal year 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“ USCIS”), received approximately 2,700 H-2B petitions requesting approximately 47,000 workers, which is more than the number of H-2B visas available. As a result, USCIS, conducted a lottery February 28 to randomly select enough petitions to meet the cap.
Despite the Trump Administration’s focus on “Buy American, Hire American”, U.S. businesses depend on immigrant workers. After strong lobbying by companies ranging from tech to Maine lobster, The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, decided to increase the numerical limitation on H–2B nonimmigrant visas to authorize the issuance of up to an additional 15,000 through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.
Temporary worker visas usually are contingent on the employer’s showing that it tried to locate and hire U.S. workers but was unable to do so. This includes obtaining the requisite prevailing wage determination from the US Department of Labor. Thus, before requesting H-2B classification from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must apply for and receive a temporary labor certification for H-2B workers from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Embarking on the H2 visa also requires a significant economic
commitment: Filing fees payable to the government, reimbursement of visa fees, recruiting, transportation from their hometown to the job site prior to employment, and back again when the employment period is over, and housing that must be provided to the foreign worker. Best estimates on costs alone: $8,000 to $10,000 per worker.
Oh, and by the way, no persons who are already here without
In order to receive an H-2B temporary labor
certification, the employer must establish that:
status are eligible. That means those workers currently in your employ who are undocumented are out of luck; they won’t be able to get this visa. You need to find appropriate workers in Mexico or some other country and bring them here to work at your jobsite. It’s likely there will be no way for them to come here before you’ve spent a lot of money to get them the visa and get them here. And they are not getting a visa if they’ve been here illegally.
▪ There are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work.
▪ The employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
▪ Its need for the prospective worker’s services or labor is temporary. With the exception of a one-time occurrence need that could last up to three (3) years, temporary need will not be approved for longer than 10 months. The employer’s need is considered temporary if it is a(n):1) a one-time occurrence, 2) seasonal need, 3) peakload need, or 3) intermittent need
So, if you’re a winery owner, the U.S. government has a lengthy, cumbersome and expensive process you can use to hire workers you’ve never met or never employed, and probably have never been to the U.S. This is just another example of why our immigration laws need reform.
FIND Immigrant Stories columns online at www.SonomaCountyGazette.com
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